The Smiths guitarist’s fourth solo studio effort will be released in its entirety on February 25 2022 via BMG, with the first four tracks due to drop October 15
(Image credit: Robin Pope/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Johnny Marr has announced details on Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 – his upcoming 16-track, double-album effort that will be released early next year.
Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 will be Marr’s fourth solo studio record proper – after The Messenger (2013), Playland (2014) and Call the Comet (2018) – and is set to be divided into four individual chapters that contribute to the record’s overall sound, which has supposedly been in development since The Smiths split up.
The first installment of the saga – Fever Dreams Pt 1 – will be released digitally and on limited-edition 12” silver vinyl on October 15, with the rest of the album due to drop February 22, 2022.
Of the album, the Smiths icon said, “There’s a set of influences and a very broad sound that I’ve been developing – really since getting out of The Smiths until now, and I hear it in this record.
“There are so many strands of music in it,” he continued. “We didn’t do that consciously, but I think I’ve got a vocabulary of sound. And I feel very satisfied that I’ve been able to harness it.”
The album is also set to be a compositional tour de force, taking inspiration from “wildly diverse music from across Marr’s career” and featuring “lyrics that are direct, emotional, deeply human, and thereby true to what Marr calls The Language of the Song”.
Marr also commented on the impact the pandemic had on the album’s creation, saying it encouraged him to dissect his own interior life and explore the emotional and psychological states of others.
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"It's and inspired record, and I couldn't wait to get in and record every day," he continued. "But I had to go inwards."
An insight into the record’s sonic universe has already been released in the form of Marr’s electro-soul anthem Spirit, Power and Soul, for which the Smiths guitarist wielded an utterly absurd nine-pickup Fender Stratocaster, dubbed the Spirit Strat.
(Image credit: Johnny Marr)
Joining Marr on the credits sheet is his longstanding band, comprising bassist Iwan Gronow, drummer Jack Mitchell, and vocalist Meredith Sheldon, a Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter.
Doviak – another one of Marr’s collaborators – has also been drafted in to helm co-production duties.
The tracklist for Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 can be found below.
Spirit Power & Soul
Receiver
All These Days
Ariel
Lightning People
Hideaway Girl
Sensory Street
Tenement Time
The Speed of Love
Night and Day
Counter-Clock World
Rubicon
God's Gift
Ghoster
The Whirl
Human
Accompanying the album news is the announcement of Live At The Crazy Face Factory – an intimate livestream that will premiere on November 10 and be available on demand until November 14.
The event, which will take place at the Crazy Face Factory studio where Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 was recorded, will feature a set of full-band live performances from across Marr’s career, and will see the Smiths icon discuss his creative process and songwriting career.
Tickets for Live At The Crazy Face Factory go up for general sale on October 20, though will be available early to those who preorder Fever Dreams Pts 1-4.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
